On Being Too Secular

(I posted the below on my work blog.  Thought I'd re-post it here, though it's kinda basic, and written for a different audience.)

When you work in public, you get lots of input.  And you better like it.  Shoot, roadside construction workers get input from passers-by.  ("You guys taking another break?  When's this going to be done, anyway? ")  It's the nature of the biz.

Yesterday, I heard I'm sometimes "too secular".  A legit point, well-made, and gracefully-put.  I love getting feedback.  But it's a good chance to explain something, so that -- even if you think I'm messed-up -- you'll know where I'm coming from.  It's always good to have your suspicions confirmed ("Now, I know this guy's messed up...")

I don't believe in a line between sacred and secular.  I used to.  I don't anymore. 

A tree isn't "secular".  A car isn't "secular"  Neither is my guitar "secular".  And, while most agree my accordion will not be in heaven, it isn't "secular", either. 

There are Christians in the music business, and not just in the "Christian Music Business."  Some of the best "Christian Musicians" will never win Dove Awards.  They play bass trombone for the Boston Symphony (Douglas Yeo) or principal trumpet for the NY Philharmonic (Phil Smith) or sing mezzo soprano for the Metropolitan Opera, like Wendy White.  They might even play guitar for U2.  They're not "secular."  They're gifted by God as artists, participating in His creativity, Soli Deo Gloria.

And your job?  Your computer isn't secular.  If you mop a floor at work, you're not mopping a secular floor.  If you're mowing grass, you're not mowing secular grass.  It's God's grass, man.

And Jesus didn't change water into secular wine. 

You can now buy Christian pants.  Does that mean my current pants are secular?  Have the Christian pants truly repented?  Is Left Behind a secular book series because it's sold in secular bookstores?  Is Relient K a Christian band, or, since MTV likes them, do they lose the "Christian" label?  What if an album is recorded in digital by a secular producer, with a secular studio bass player, mixed in analog by a Christian, and then mastered by an agnostic, printed by a Christian-owned-CD manufacturer, and distributed by Sony, before being played on Christian radio stations? 

What a headache.  Good thing we really don't have to keep track, huh?

I believe the Kingdom of God is here, and the King wants everything.  All truth is God's truth, which means we can be unafraid of finding it, as we do, all over the place.  And we find it in unlikely places.  "Secular" scientists can find it.  Balaam's secular donkey spoke it.   And, for that matter, Christian publishers (TM) and Christian Radio Personalities (TM) can miss it.

So, if you hear me talking about what you consider "secular" news stories, or secular TV shows, or secular hot dogs you can have sent by mail, well, just know what my problem is:  I don't see the world that way.  God's grace, His beauty, His truth, His obvious HUMOR -- it's everywhere.  The whole earth is filled with His glory.

Can the culture misuse it, abuse it, discolor it?  For the time being, yes.

But our purpose isn't to condemn the culture, it's to redeem it.